The two native Angelenos will discuss the history of the famed intersection at Johnie’s Coffee Shop this Thursday
One hundred years ago, Wilshire and Fairfax was wide open country. Rural enough that Charlie Chaplin’s brother Sid thought it was a great place for an airport. Not long after, the corner was bustling with restaurants and shops and became the western terminus of the Miracle Mile. The opening of the new LACMA and the D-Line last month have brought new energy and interest to the corner.
Designer and historian Jim Heimann is coming to Johnie’s Coffee Shop on Thursday to share the story of one of Los Angeles’ most fabled intersections as part of artist Gary Baseman’s Off the Menu exhibition inside the long-closed restaurant. The exhibit closes on June 14. The pair of L.A. natives will discuss Baseman’s family history in the neighborhood, the places that have come and gone from the corner, including the May Company department store, the dazzling drive-in restaurants of Simon’s and McDonnell’s and not one, but two airfields with images drawn from Heimann’s vast personal archives.
Looking northwest at the corner of Wilshire and Fairfax circa 1937Credit: Photo from the Jim Heimann collection
“I’ve known Gary for years and have written various things for his catalogs,” says Heimann, who is also executive editor for art book publisher Taschen. “His family lived right off Beverly, he went to Fairfax High, and his mother worked the bakery counter at Canter’s for 30 years. “The thread that held us together is that we’re both illustrators and collectors.”
Baseman is inspired by his collection of odd objects from century-old mannequins to toys and pop culture of the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Heimann’s legendary archive is focused on early Hollywood and Los Angeles in the 20th century, including artifacts from famous restaurants, hotels and nightclubs. Ephemera like menus, cocktail napkins and souvenir photos are sometimes the only objects left to tell the story of a long-gone landmark. Baseman describes it as an “evening of discussion about Dining & Drawing in Los Angeles, how dining culture has shaped our hometown, and the importance of this intersection at Wilshire & Fairfax.”
A Baseman illustration of Heimann, Alina and animal friends at Du-Par’sCredit: Photo by Gary Baseman
Heimann’s next book for Taschen is a look inside his personal collection. “Were working on the layouts and have lined up 3000 images over 500 pages. It’s massive,” he says. “It represents maybe 2 to 5% of what I have. Believe me, there is so much shit even I can’t believe it.”
The wildly eclectic architecture at Wilshire and Fairfax includes Johnie’s Coffee Shop and the Petersen Automotive MuseumCredit: Photo by Chris Nichols
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